Pogue on Reader's Responses to his Review of Google Nexus One | Hacker News Reader

Pogue on Reader's Responses to his Review of Google Nexus One

pogue.blogs.nytimes.com

34 pointsniqolas16 comments

"I think I may have accidentally unearthed a whole new untapped population online: the Android Army. Reader feedback about my review of Google’s new cellphone yesterday was unusually voluminous and, in some sectors, vitriolic. Where I had written, 'The Nexus One is an excellent app phone, fast and powerful but marred by some glitches,' some readers seemed to read, 'You are a pathetic loser, your religion is bogus and your mother wears Army boots'".

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"The most plausible theory, though, is that Google’s Android phone software is a more open and hackable operating system than the proprietary software on the iPhone, BlackBerry or Palm. Therefore, Android appeals to precisely the sort of frustrated, anti-establishment people who have no trouble writing abusive notes. It brings them out of the woodwork, gives them a new counterculture champion."

I agree with Pogue. It is absolutely baffling how something as ephemeral as a technical solution tickles our religious reflexes.

I don't know about the religious thing -- other than it is important to people -- but:

I can see how people get attached to thier tools. We make our living from wielding and manipulating those tools. Further, there is this wierd western culture thing of "you are what you do", meaning if I do android development, I AM an android developer. This attaches identity to tool choice. Furhter, there is a certain passion for doing well with ourselves in the geek communities. Combining all that, if you insult the tool, it is no different than insulting the people.

I don't really agree with this being a good idea, just observing the things in play that seem related to reactions. Similarly see how old scientists react to their theorys being overturned (most observable in soft sciences, where data is more interpretable/has more confounding variables).

"It is absolutely baffling how something as ephemeral as a technical solution tickles our religious reflexes."

Maybe not surprising when you consider how watching guys dressed up in matching uniforms engage in some kind of competition involving a ball can elicit the same response.

Empathy for athletes during competition is an evolved phenomenon that aids the assimilation of useful hunting and fighting skills for the audience.

It's a topic worthy of a full scale sociological study. I feel like the historic lack of competition & choice for consumers when it comes to (mainstream) operating systems plays a big role. Maybe it has been passed on through the generations of techies. If your platform of choice wasn't hugely popular it had little chance of surviving long term so people seem to develop fierce loyalty. Microsoft's influence of dominating the OS market seems to be the goal everyone wants. We're always talking about how "X is going to kill Y" or "X is going to DOMINATE the market" You rarely see someone say "X could carve out a good 20% of the market and I would be happy" The ironic part is these people never seem to understand that competition is good for everyone. In a huge market there's nothing wrong with having a small market share. It still equates to many millions of users.

Agreed.

I find the critical comments interesting, too, as they are the sorts of things we programmers say when someone points out the issues in our products.

"It's not a bug, it's a feature!"

"The problem is clearly between the keyboard and the chair."

He's being rather disingenuous here. Sure, Pogue is on the side of the consumer and so it makes sense to point out thing like the fact that there are many more apps available for the iPhone...but it's also tautological, like saying 'new feature X in latest operating system Y is neat, but there aren't many apps that take advantage of it'.

It's true as far as it goes, but it's also a kind of FUD. I remember back int he early 90s when I was visiting businesses trying to sell them on the idea of using email and there was always a barrier of the form 'but who else is there to send mail to if this is so new'. Pogue has been a tech journalist for a long time, this kind of naivete fits him poorly.

(The irony is, of course, that once upon a time, Apple was perceived as the counterculture underdog. But 200 million iPods later, some people obviously see the former “think different” company as the “you’re all a bunch of consumer sheep” company.)

True enough, but Pogue might want to look back his own 2001 review of the iPod (http://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/25/technology/state-of-the-ar...) where he grumbles about price, its tendency to attract fingermarks, and its lack of a belt clip, as well as referring to an 'invasion of the ipod people'.

Well, what are you going to do...as with many other columnists, Pogue's writings are partly about what a cool guy he is for daring to speak truth to fanboys. Teh drama, it burns!

I really think it's backlash against the iPhone culture.

I'm not particularly sold on Android, and I really like my iPod Touch. However, AT&T is notoriouly lousy in my area, so I purchased a Droid when they were released in November.

I was at a family gathering and got into a discussion with my sister-in-law and a mutual friend about the pros and cons of the iPhone versus the Droid.

I was at a family gathering and got into a discussion with my iPhone-fangirl sister-in-law and a mutual friend. I said relatively little until our friend asked about the AT&T network. I mentioned that I had the same concern and showed her my phone. At this point, my s-i-l made a face that reminded me of the scene in Fellowship of the Ring when Bilbo Baggins sees the ring hanging around Frodo's neck. Her attitude really changed even though she lives 2000 miles away and knows very little about AT&T's performance in our area.

At any rate, there are plenty of great things about both phones, but I did feel my attachment to the Android community grow a little stronger after that encounter, which was the first of several over the last couple of months.

In my mind, the fanboy-type reaction is little different from any other consumer attachment. When we buy something, we believe, or at least really want to believe, that we made the right choice. Our subconscious mind works really hard on this stuff, and the more you spend the more it matters. There's a whole bunch of psychology behind that (The Paradox of Choice takes an interesting look at the subject), but the result is a strong defensive reaction when a purchase is criticized or a product's value is called into question (even a little bit).

The iPhone, as an alternative product that I did not buy, must be inferior in some way or I must have made the wrong choice. But I didn't. I made the right choice. I don't regret a thing. I bought the superior product. I'm a smart consumer. I love my Droid. It is the best phone ever.

And there you have it.

Can some one post the reviews Link. Can't find it.

I think the work of Dan Lyons really did a lot to expose Pogue's toadyism, and the reaction probably stems (in part) from that.

This guy writes a sarcastic review of a popular, new, and impressive technology (Talking about /phone, not the phone) and he's shocked, just SHOCKED he tells you, that he received angry comments?

Either this guy isn't too bright or is just hyping himself up.

Did you read his review? It doesn't really jive with what you're saying:

"a brand-new cellphone, designed by Google and made by HTC, called the Nexus One. It’s pretty sweet"

"it’s so thin and rounded, it feels terrific in your hand."

"It’s loaded with gleaming, attractive features. It’s hard to choose which is more gratifying: the speed — instant, smooth response when you’re opening programs and scrolling — or the huge, 3.7-inch touch screen, which has much finer resolution than the iPhone (480 by 800 pixels, versus 320 by 480)."

"The Nexus has no physical keyboard — only an on-screen keyboard, with a handy suggestion feature that I actually prefer to the iPhone’s"

"You get an impressive, free, turn-by-turn GPS navigation program,"

I think your sarcasm filter might be on the fritz

"I think I may have accidentally unearthed a whole new untapped population online: the Android Army. Reader feedback about my review of Google’s new cellphone yesterday was unusually voluminous and, in some sectors, vitriolic. Where I had written, “The Nexus One is an excellent app phone, fast and powerful but marred by some glitches,” some readers seemed to read, “You are a pathetic loser, your religion is bogus and your mother wears Army boots.”"

Ooooooo reply :

I didn’t enjoy reading this.

I dunno man, perhaps you’re new to the tech thing (somehow I doubt you are) but since the days of Nintendo VS Sega (probably even before that) there have been these arguments. It’s nothing new. I feel that, as a blogger you should either (a) state your bias or (b) try to be as unbiased as possible. Even if your bias is minute, putting it out there will, at least, give some validity for your words. With that out of the way, you could go for the two-sides-to-a-coin perspective. I’ll draw an example:

While I’m an iPhone user, I do see instances in which the N1 (or Android) could do better. the same applies in reverse. [listing off the pros and cons relative to both. Removable battery, multitasking, UI, storage space, resolution, call quality, multitouch, browser, usable apps, media playback]. All in all, you should definitely be choosing the phone that meets your needs, with that said the N1 is currently the best phone you can purchase under Tmobile service (though you can run it via ATT though you won’t be able to get 3g service).

You see, that way you come off as someone who loves their choice but respects another product. There’s no escaping fanboys but this way you give them much less ammo to call you a biased idiot.

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